AAP Voices Blog

We are located in rural eastern North Carolina and have a close working relationship with our school nurses and the local school system. 

While 7th and 12th graders are more easily contacted through robocalls from the school for reminders about the vaccine requirements for their age group, many 4- and 5-year-olds are not in the system yet, especially since we have not been able to have pre-K or kindergarten registration. But 4,000 of the county’s 7,000 school children are picking up school meals everyday. 

So with approval from the head school nurse and the school superintendent, we created a reminder in English and Spanish that 4- and 5-year-olds may need exams and vaccinations and to call their health care provider to schedule. These reminders went into meal packs on a recent Friday. 

The idea has been picked up by other North Carolina pediatric practices.

So I suggest reaching out to your local school system to see if this can work for you, or create another collaboration with your school system. They want kids to come back to school immunized and healthy!

Send in your COVID-19 pandemic story, and we may share it here and on our social media channels. https://bit.ly/2XVvJIu

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics.